World Wide Web applications are commonly used in a variety of tasks that involve the communication of data over the network such as the Internet. In many applications, web applications running on a server or other computer retrieve data from client devices by presenting a form or other type of web page. The data can include information that can be input into the forms that are displayed on the client computer display using a standard web browser program, such as Internet Explorer from Microsoft or Netscape from Netscape Communications. The web forms often include a number of fields or blanks which ask for specific information from the user. It is simple for the user to determine the information requested by each field, and to enter that information using input devices.
Traditionally, users can input data into these web forms using standard input devices, such as a keyboard, mouse, trackball, etc. For example, a user can move a mouse or trackball to position a cursor on an empty field within the form and type the information into the field using a keyboard input device. Similarly, a keyboard key, such as TAB, can be used to move the cursor from field to field on a form.
“Non-standard” input devices can be used by some users to input data to computer systems. For example, a computer can be used at a business or other entity that sells or tracks inventories of items. The information concerning sold goods or stored inventories can be input to the computer to maintain a database. In these types of applications, Point-of-Sale (POS) I/O attachments can be used to easily input data concerning the goods or inventories. For example, at a retail store, a clerk can scan a bar code or other coded mark on a product with an optical scanner, which reads the coded information and sends the information to a computer to be stored and manipulated. In other environments, a magnetic stripe reader (MSR) can be used to magnetically read data from a magnetic stripe provided on a card (such as a credit card) or other item.
These types of non-standard input devices allow data to be quickly and easily input to computer systems and allow fast inventorying and sale of goods. However, there are no simple and easy ways for a user to enter data that is read from a scanner or MSR input device into a web form provided in a browser program running on the computer. The user must manually enter the information into the fields of the web form, causing much delay and expense for simple input tasks. Web servers and forms, however, are commonly used in many businesses, e.g., on a local area network or the Internet.
In one attempted solution, Symbol Technologies, Inc. has created a custom web browser that supports additional attributes on otherwise standard HTML tags, such as a custom input tag. This can allow attributes in the web page that permit a scanner, for example, to input data to the custom browser. However, since the browser itself must be modified for this application, only a limited number of platforms are able to run the browser and achieve this functionality, and it may not support all the existing standards. What is needed is a more robust, flexible, and platform-independent way to input and output data from non-standard input and output devices to and from computers.